compare multiple numbers in two columns

I have an excel table that has a date, Name, ID#, Check In Item, Check Out Item, and Comments. The two columns I am concerned about are the Check in and Check out columns. They contain the ID numbers for Books, Videos, or CDs checked out or in from our Library. They can contain numbers ranging from an empty cell to 50 numbers in a cell. What I need to do is Check the numbers in the Check Out column and compare them with numbers in the Check in column in every row. I am trying to determine if any books in the Check out section have been checked In. I would need to go through each row to see if the Check out column has data in it. If it does then I need to go through all the rows to find the check in column that has data in it and check it to see if it has numbers that match with the check out. If it does than I will have to check the dates of the Check In and Check out to see if the Check In date is greater than the Check out Date. If it is then the item has been checked in otherwise its still check out.

An example of the number in check in would be a cell that contain "23457 63478 5890" each item is separated by a space. The same is true with the check out item. Howe ver the number of items in the cell will very as to whether an item was checked in or out and how many were checked in or out. I have gotten as far as being able to go through each cell and split the items in to an array and then use a for each command to get the items from the array but I haven't been able to come up with the correct logic to get data from the Check out column and compare it to the items in all the rows in the Check in column. If anyone thinks they can help me, I will be glad to send a copy of the data and the macro for it.

Thanks
Patrick